YouTube TV Set to Connect With Android TV, Xbox One, Apple TV Devices

Following its initial reach on smartphones, tablets and web browsers, YouTube TV is extending a bridge to the TV with app launches on select Android TV devices and Xbox One consoles, with work underway for one that supports Apple TV boxes.

Those new options will include the Nvidia Shield, the Android TV-based console/streaming device, as well as several Android TV-powered smart TVs. YouTube TV is also launching apps for the Xbox One and Xbox One 2, with one for the Xbox One X on deck.

Apps for the Shield and Xbox One will arrive in the next few days, with apps for Android TV-based TVs from LG, Samsung, Sony, as well as the Apple TV, set to launch in the coming weeks.

The new TV apps from YouTube TV features a “more cinematic look,” with a dark background, and a new live guide that lets viewers see what’s airing soon. YouTube TV’s new TV apps also synch up with viewing on mobile devices.

Though YouTube TV is introducing a new batch of apps for tailored for TV-connected devices, more than half the time spent on the OTT TV service has been consumed on TVs via Chromecast, and those users are watching it that way more than four hours a day on weekends, according to this blog post from Okalo Ikhena, YouTube TV’s product manager.

YouTube TV’s expanded device support comes about six months after YouTube TV debuted with a package of 35-plus channels, plus a cloud DVR component, starting at $35 per month.

Among other recent moves, YouTube TV recently added voice commands when the service is connected to Google Home, Google’s smart home hub, and paired with Chromecast-based adapters and TVs.